


forget what happened yesterday

by midnightjuly (roadmarks)



Category: Fast Five (2011), Fast and the Furious Series
Genre: Gen
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2012-05-01
Updated: 2012-05-01
Packaged: 2017-11-04 16:00:33
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,678
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/395606
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/roadmarks/pseuds/midnightjuly
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>Given everything that's happened over such a short period, the aftermath starts to feel anticlimactic pretty quickly.</p>
            </blockquote>





	forget what happened yesterday

**Author's Note:**

  * For [jedibuttercup](https://archiveofourown.org/users/jedibuttercup/gifts).



> I was so thrilled to get assigned this fandom, and I had a blast writing this. jedibuttercup, I hope this is something along the lines of what you were looking for!

Given everything that's happened over such a short period, the aftermath starts to feel a little anticlimactic pretty quickly. Elena parts ways with Hobbs, who hands her a card and tells her that if she ever wants a change of scenery, he can always use someone he can rely on. She thanks him and tucks the card into her pocket for safekeeping, though she's sure she'll never use the number.

And then she goes back to her apartment, the adrenaline fading and leaving her drained. She's not stupid; she knows she can't stay, not when she helped wanted fugitives break into the station, not when she's responsible for so many cops getting taken down, crooked or not. A lot of people lined their pockets with Reyes's money, and it's only a matter of time before one of them comes looking for her.

Elena packs quickly and lightly, taking only the things she needs -- a few changes of clothes and all the cash she's got -- and a few of the photos hanging on her wall. She takes one last glance around to see if she's missed anything, and hesitates when she looks at the uniform she's just changed out of, wondering if she should have thought all of this through instead of running on instinct. She dismisses those thoughts immediately; what's done is done, and there's no going back now. Still, she tucks her badge into the pocket of her bag. It might come in handy, and even if it doesn't, well, she earned it, so she might as well hang onto it.

The knock comes just as she's zipping up her backpack. _Dom_ , she thinks, but she keeps her gun in front of her just in case, turning off the safety as she moves cautiously towards the door, making sure to avoid passing in front of the windows. 

It's Mia. She lowers the gun, opening the door a little wider. "What are you doing here?" she asks.

Mia jerks her head toward the road behind her. "Dom asked me to come. He thought you might need a ride."

"A ride where?"

"That's up to you, I guess."

She "I just need to get out of here."

"Come on," Mia tells her, and Elena follows her out of the apartment, not letting herself look back.

*

Everyone else has scattered, Mia tells her as they drive, and she's going to meet Brian and Dom at a checkpoint they worked out ages ago.

"Where's that?" 

"Not here," is her only answer. "Is there anywhere you want me to drop you off?"

She glances over then, and Elena meets her with a steady gaze. "Not particularly."

Mia nods, looking back at the road. She doesn't speak much more after that, and Elena doesn't know what to say to break the silence, so she settles for looking out the window, watching as they leave Rio in the distance. It's hours before either of them says another word. 

"You want me to drive for a while?" she offers, and Mia shakes her head.

"I've driven for a lot longer than this on a lot less sleep," she says before falling silent again.

They stop at a tiny store for supplies, and Elena's got her door open before she realizes Mia isn't moving. "You're not going in?" she asks.

"I'll go in once you're back," she says. "Someone should stay with the car."

"Why?"

"My share from the heist," she says, nodding towards the trunk.

Elena nods, her mouth setting in a line. She'd expected as much, but she can't say she's thrilled about her suspicions being confirmed. Two days ago she was a cop; today she's riding shotgun with a wanted fugitive who has ten million dollars of stolen money in the trunk. "Back in a minute," she says.

They're back on the road again in another ten minutes, Mia still behind the wheel.

Night falls, and another few hours pass. Mia still claims she's fine, but it's been a hell of a long day and they've been on the road for a long time now. "Either you need to let me drive or we need to find somewhere to stay for the rest of the night," Elena says when they stop for gas. 

"We need to keep going --"

"Then you need to stop and let me out, because I didn't go through all that today just to die in a wreck when you fall asleep at the wheel," she snaps.

Mia looks at her, eyebrows raised, and then sighs. "Fine," she says. "You can drive, on one condition."

"What's that?"

"Stick to the back roads, keep heading northwest, and wake me up if you get too tired to drive."

"That's more than one condition," Elena says, and there's a moment where they're both smiling. "You going to tell me where we're going, or are you just letting me drive blind?"

"We won't get there before morning anyway," she says. "And I'll tell you when we get there."

They gas up, and once they've paid, Elena holds her hands out to Mia for the keys. 

Mia holds onto them, leaning against the car and looking at Elena. "My brother likes you, you know." Elena shrugs, saying nothing. "He really has a knack for finding stray cops," she adds. "It's a dangerous habit."

"It doesn't seem to have worked out too badly for him."

"She said, as they ran from the law," Mia mutters. "Look, I love Brian, and he's part of my family, all right? But he's the reason Dom had to go on the run, and he's the one who made the deal that Letty ended up dying for. Dom might trust you, but I don't know what kind of baggage you're carrying, and I need to know that you're not about to bring more trouble down on us."

"What do you think I could possibly do?" Elena says. "I left everything back there. I should be asking _you_ if you're going to bring down more trouble on _me_. You think, what, I'm just gonna turn you in when I get tired of running?"

"I saw the look on your face when you realized the money was in the car," Mia says quietly. "You're a good person, Elena. And this kind of life isn't made for good people." 

"What am I supposed to do, then?" Elena says. "Go back to Rio and show up for work tomorrow and hope anyone who saw me with all of you died in the chase? Give you and your friends up and hope it's enough to keep me out of prison? I knew what I was doing when I decided to help you, and I knew what I was leaving behind when I got in the car with you."

Mia's quiet, and Elena sighs, folding her arms across her chest. "I'm not about to sell you out. You can trust me on that, or you can leave me here on the side of the road. It's your choice. But either way, we both need to keep moving, so you need to make up your mind now."

Mia looks at her for another long moment, then nods, tossing her the keys. 

*

She manages to get them another four hours away from Rio before she has to wake Mia up.

"Everything okay?" Mia sits up quickly, her eyes flicking to the mirror, presumably checking for flashing lights.

"Fine," she says. "I can't go any further, though."

"No problem," she says, squinting at their surroundings. "You know where we are?"

"Not really," she says. "You said northwest."

She shrugs. "I can find my way from here. You get some sleep."

Elena dozes fitfully at first, seeming to jolt awake with every bump and curve in the road, but eventually she manages to fall sound asleep. She startles awake when the engine cuts out, and she glances over to the driver's seat. "Checkpoint," Mia says, and Elena nods, still groggy.

They're parked behind an old house, abandoned and falling apart and out of the way. Elena lets out a breath she hadn't even realized she was holding when she sees the other car parked next to them. 

Brian's fast asleep on the floor when they come in, but Dom's awake and alert, relaxing when he sees it's them. "Any trouble getting here?" he asks, drawing Mia into a hug.

"We're fine," she says, and he pulls back, looking at Elena.

"Glad to see you could make it," he says.

She raises her eyebrows. "I wouldn't miss it."

Mia pokes at Brian until he wakes up with a yelp that draws Elena's attention away from Dom. "Up and at 'em, O'Conner," Mia says, and he grins at her, pulling her down for a kiss. 

Elena glances away, giving them a moment of privacy; Dom's eyes are on her again, and she doesn't look away as she says, "So, are we going to get this show on the road or what?" 

"Yeah, we need to put more distance between us and Rio," Mia says. "Brian, you're with me this time."

"Aw, you missed me?" he says with a little smirk, and she gives him one of her own.

"Maybe I'm tired of intelligent conversation."

"Ouch," he says, swatting at her arm, and Dom shakes his head at them; the look on his face is the happiest she's seen him with yet, and her own lips turn up a little. 

"Let's go, team," he says, and Elena can't say it doesn't feel good to know she's included in that.

"Have you slept yet?" she asks him as they head back out, and she rolls her eyes when he nods. "You're a bad liar, Toretto. Give me the keys, I'll drive."

"Whatever you say," he says, tossing them over; she'd expected more of a fight, but she shrugs it off.

"Where are we headed?"

"Somewhere we can stop running."

"Sounds nice."

"How fast do you drive?" he asks.

"Fast enough," she says.

"No such thing," he says, eyes sparkling, and she can't help but smile.


End file.
